


Job opportunity

by qwertysweetea



Series: The (surprisingly domestic) lives of Moriarty and Moran [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Feelings Realization, Guns, Job Opportunity, M/M, Power Dynamics, Strange feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 03:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13181001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qwertysweetea/pseuds/qwertysweetea
Summary: Headcanon: Moran is the only one gutsy enough to turn down a job opportunity from Moriarty.AKA: The time Moriarty would have fallen in love if he wasn't so pissed about not getting his own way.





	Job opportunity

Moran didn’t entertain Moriarty in the way the others did; they all laughed at his jokes, tolerated his wild mood-swings and fleeting fancies, and bowed their heads in his presence as if he was royalty. His money and prestige usually got him what he wanted, failing that then force and fear did just fine. Now in his mid-thirties, after a lifetime of getting his own way in one way or another, he almost expected to get what he asked without thought or question.

That’s probably why he found himself so thrown off when his first attempt at hiring Moran was met with a simple but resounding ‘no’. No explanations, no pandering to a gentler, more generous nature he might have somewhere under the fearsome reputation. A plain ‘no’, and Jim didn’t know what to do with himself. Moran had walked out of the bar without went looking up at him.

Now, this was the fourth time and the fourth time he found himself completely at a loss for what to do with himself. For a moment he stared back at the other, fighting hard to keep his expression natural.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard what I said.” Moran replied, that same air of calm certainty strong in his voice. He looked up at the other for the first time and nothing changed, not his posture, nor his expression, nor his sincerity.

The man wasn’t interested in working for the infamous Moriarty. He wasn’t interested in the money or the copious on-the-job perks. Something about him made it abundantly clear that no amount of money or reputation thrown around could save Moriarty his dignity or get him his sniper.

“What?” Moran started again after a couple of moments staring back into Moriarty’s dumbfounded face. “You’re meant to be the smartest man in London. You wouldn’t fucking know it, being unable to process a word that most three-year-olds would understand. Didn’t daddy ever teach you or did he tell your nanny to get you wanted at a snap of your fingers?”

The gun clicked. Close enough to his face to be serious by far enough away to focus on, if he was going to look at it at all. Everyone did, whether or not they wanted to make an effort to appear strong. Moran didn’t. He didn’t even flinch, and his expression didn’t change.

If they hadn’t been though the same conversation with the same inevitable outcome so many time before then Moriarty was sure he would have fallen in love with him at that moment. Always at this moment… only if the words still weren’t so close to the bone, he could see himself leaning over the table between them that little bit further and pressing the gun to Moran’s whiskey-glistening lips.

“Are you ever going to give in, Sebastian? Is there ever going to be a time when neither of us leaves an encounter disappointed?”

“Maybe,” and with that Moran stood. Finishing off his drink with one mouthful he stepped up to the bar to return the glass and muttered that his ‘friend’ would be picking up the tab. When he turned back Moriarty had put away the gun. His eyes, harsh and piercing, focused on the space between Moran's eyes, took its place.

“There will come a time when I stop asking.” Jim said after him.

“A time when you’re not nearly so desperate for me? That’ll be the day I say yes.” He chuckled back. Everything about it made it clear to both of them that the day wasn’t coming anytime soon.


End file.
